DAVOS – Overwhelmed with the love and support she gets from Indians, youngPakistani activist Malala Yousafzai has said she wants to visit the countryand work for the girls there. The 20-year-old Malala, who was shot at byTaliban at the age of 15 for defying the ban on girls going to school andwent on to get a Nobel peace prize and become the UN Messenger of Peace,said she has already learnt a lot about India and is a big fan of itsmovies and drama and wants to learn more about its culture and values,reports PTI.
She was at Davos to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) AnnualMeeting, held from January 22-26, and during her visit met a number ofglobal leaders and CEOs to seek their support for the girl education. Shehas co-founded Malala Fund that seeks to invest in girl education acrossthe world, while one of its initiative Gulmakai Network — named on Malala’spen name that she used while writing blogs against Taliban regime —supports the work of education champions across the world.
In an interview here with PTI, Malala said she is very excited aboutexpanding her Gulmakai Network to India, where she would want to work withthe local people as they best understand the local issues and can suggestnecessary solutions as well. Excited to see so much “snow to the level ofher height” on her first visit to Davos, the young activist agreed theissues were very much same in India and Pakistan with the two being onecountry before and having the same culture.
Brimming with excitement while talking about India, Malala said, “Thesupport that I have received from India has been overwhelming and I want tothank everyone in India for their love and support. I get so many lettersof support from India”. Recalling one such letter, she said there is onegirl who sent her a letter saying she wanted to be Prime Minister of Indiaand that “one day we both will be Prime Ministers and then we willnegotiate and bring peace between the two countries”.
“That touched my heart that the future generation is not only thinkingabout education but they, especially girls, want to be leaders as well.They want to be PMs, presidents and this gives me hope for the future,” shesaid. Stating that she wants to visit India, Malala said, “I have watchedso many Indian dramas and films and I know already a lot about the country.I know Hindi as well that I learnt from Indian TV channels. We connect inmany ways and there is a lot to learn from each other’s culture and values”.
As I am concerned about girls in Pakistan, I am also concerned about girlsin India and the number is in millions, she said. “When we talk about thefuture of India and future of Pakistan then we have to invest in our girlsbecause they are the future. How can we make our future better and brighterwhen we ignore these millions of girls by not giving them education. Whenwe educate girls, we are not just educating them individually but we arealso empowering them and we are giving them opportunity to earn forthemselves,” she said.